What is “economic development,” Governor Kasich?

If it is government’s job to take from the poor to give to the rich- then, I understand why we have politicians and state employees running “economic development” programs.

It it’s to funnel our tax dollars away from essential services- and give them to our friends who supported our campaign- then I understand “economic development” programs.

As a former “investment banker” John Kasich should know that financial projections are just that- there are no “sure things” in finance (except the bankers making a ton of loot for creating bogus paper). Yet, here we have the new governor talking about privatizing our Ohio Department of Development- instead of just wiping our hands of this filthy business- and focusing on governing.

Public, private, a partnership- whatever- “Economic Development” generally involves using tax dollars to prop up bad ideas- ones that bankers already turned down- or ones based on wink, wink- you scratch my back with money for my campaign – and I get you a tax break. America didn’t become an industrial power by giving tax breaks to Henry Ford, Thomas Edison or Andrew Carnegie.

However- John Kasich is going gung-ho on keeping this bad idea going- despite studies to the contrary:

The Public-Private Power Grab report from Good Jobs First said transferring state business recruitment functions to private agencies, as Michigan has done, is not the panacea its proponents claim. Instead, the report said the track record of states that have privatized their economic development functions are filled with examples of misuse of taxpayer funds, excessive executive bonuses, political interference, questionable subsidy awards and conflicts of interest.

“Rather than making economic development activities more effective, privatization is often little more than a power grab by governors and politically connected business interests,” Philip Mattera, research director of Good Jobs First, said in release.

Before the legislature changes the mechanism- could someone please define what “Economic Development” is- and how it’s supposed to work? And how many of our tax dollars are involved?

Can we see a real plan? What is the expected return on our “investment”- and who will oversee our money?

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